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Sorry this took so long – life got in the way. It has a pesky way of doing that, no?

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Day two of Tri Con and all is well. I have had the chance to talk with some amazing people during the past 24 hours. There are some great personalities attending this con. There are also some gorgeous cosplayers wandering the event. Yesterday I recognized Sam and Castiel from Supernatural, Irene Adler from Sherlock Belle, Tinkerbell and a plethora of other Disney princesses, Judge Dredd and Peter Pan. Today has seen Captain America, Harley Quinn, Deadpool, and the 11th Doctor. Again, these are only the ones I recognized.

That aside, I got to mingle with the crowds, talk to my fellow geeks and do some serious networking! I actually got to chat with a few cohorts about social media and will be following up with a few in the near future.

I am loving going to these events and will continue as often as I can.

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So, for those that do not know me, I am a nerd and a huge one at that. When given the opportunity, I enjoy communing with my fellow nerds and sharing our nerdy loves with one another.

Day one was absolutely brilliant. for those that like to people watch, going to a convention is an unparalleled experience. People of different backgrounds come together for a common cause. People blend fantasy and reality through conversation, cosplay and games. People enjoy themselves with little to no reservations.

On a personal note, I love the experience. This is only my second intentional -con experience (Hubby and I accidentally stumbled on a steampunk convention in the summer) and I would never imagine NOT going to these conventions. It is an immense amount of fun and you get to meet people with the same interests as yourself (in person) that you never would have otherwise.

Speaking of the people, the creativity of these individuals is absolutely brilliant. The vendors at this show are largely creating handmade, original items that entertain the mind,eye and heart. All of the unique works there are absolutely beautiful, but I am going to highlight a few of the vendors I purchased from:

High Comedic Value – The comic I purchased from Husein was funny, cute and thoughtful. While it is not his day job, you can tell he loves his craft and lets his fun, layered humour shine through.

Cheshire Grynne – So much adorable. My husband bought a (Zelda) Master Key keychain that absolutely won both of our hearts. The 8-bit style of the pressed bead art is both cute and smart. The artist, Amy Williams (not THAT Amy Williams), was fun and energetic. The highlight for me was her pressed button Misha Collins portrait. it was beautifully done – my only complaint is that not enough people will see the piece. It is art.

Hunter Geek – Who wouldn’t love a hand-stitched TARDIS pin for their bag? I knew I wanted one and when I asked very nicely, Allanah whipped up a red-lined one for me no problem. Her speed was impressive as was her span of the fandoms. While we were circulating at the con, she whipped up an Animal Crossing commission that had everyone around going “Awww!” Her David Tennant stitch was a thing of absolute beauty. There was so much there, I honestly can’t mention everything.

Ringcrafts – A perennial favourite of mine, the husband/wife duo that runs this business are not only wildly talented but wonderful people. This is the second time I have bought off of them. My husband owns a chainmaille tie from them (continuous compliments/inquiries) while I own a variety of jewellery. Today saw the purchase of some earrings and a penguin pendant. They are all handmade and the owners will custom size anything you like. There is one thing I outwardly covet of theirs – the 12-foot chainmaille replica of the fourth doctor’s scarf. It is a little out of my price range, but oh my goodness is it gorgeous.

That was day one I will be writing more later.. but now I must be off to begin day two!

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If it hasn’t become abundantly clear to those that view my blog with any regularity, I fancy myself to be a writer. In all seriousness, I make part of my living with words. My only complaint is that I cannot yet sustain myself on these earnings.

Recently, I wrote a piece called “I don’t want kids.” The post was, to oversimplify, about how monumentally frustrating it is to have people try and tell you how to live. I have made a sound decision and it is not one that I should have to justify.

The response to this post was surprising. I received feedback from like-minded individuals with their stories and frustrations. I received private notes about sticking to my guns. I had one person tell me it made her think about her conduct in the past. The post made people reflect, emote and share.

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As a woman in my late 20s I have noticed a trend among my friends; all of them seem to be getting married, having children or both. To them I send my deepest, heartfelt congratulations.

I also remind them, when it inevitably comes up, that I do not plan on having my own children.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore kids. These little people are just beginning their journey into the world and I can’t help but be completely besotted with the constant wonder and fascination they express. I have many small children in my life and I love every last one of them.

BUT …

when someone puts a baby in my hands then asks me when I plan on having my own, I get uncomfortable.

I cannot remember a time when I actively wanted my own children. There are times when I was less adverse to the idea, definitely, but as a whole, child rearing has never been a part of my life plan. I have a lot of ambitions in my life as does my husband. In all honestly, some of those ambitions are fairly selfish. We both want to be successful at our chosen careers (his: music, mine:writing) and after talking about our wants at length decided that children were most likely not on our radar. This was and is not a fly-by-night decision – It is a deeply personal decision that was made by two adults planning their futures.

So when you tell me I will change my mind, I find it very insulting.

Honestly, it is one of the worst things you can say to a person who isn’t planning on having children. There are a multitude of reasons why someone may not see kids in their future and really, it is no one’s business.

Don’t tell me I would be a fantastic parent – Yes, I am good with children. As I said before, I love kids. I spent my entire youth babysitting for family friends as well as my three younger cousins. I changed diapers, helped potty train, dealt with runny noses and was kept up during the night with sore tummies. I struggled through homework, I got them off to school in the morning. I cooked, cleaned and tucked them in. I did this part time and that was more than enough for me. I truly believe that yes, if placed in the situation, I would be a brilliant parent. The fact is, though, I don’t want to be a parent.

Don’t tell me I am missing out. First off, I don’t feel that I am. I don’t have to find a sitter if I want to go out for a drink on Friday night. I don’t have to worry about extra mouths to feed. I don’t have to worry about being woken at 3 a.m. over monsters under the bed. I can buy pretty ornaments and leave them out without worrying about them being broken by curious hands. I don’t have to baby-proof my house. Leaving the house isn’t a logistical nightmare of toys, nappies and bottles. I don’t feel I am missing out because these are not my priorities. If they are yours, that’s wonderful. I will help you pack the diaper bag, but it does not have a place in my day-to-day life.

Don’t tell me I will change my mind. I know my mind and I know my own goals in life. I honestly don’t see myself suddenly wanting to have kids after 29 years of not, but if I do change my mind, it is the business of myself and my husband, no one else.

don’t tell me I don’t understand. I know I don’t understand. I am fine with that. The fact is that I don’t want to understand.

Every child needs a slightly eccentric, cool aunt and I am more than happy to fit that bill. I look forward to the day that my brother has kids with his partner (if they so choose). I will love that child to bits. I adore spending time with my friends’ children and playing make-believe. I spin stories out of thin air that leave them in giggles. I write them tales where they get to be the main characters. I will be friend, confidante and family, whether biological or not. I will go home to my cats and visit again soon.

Let me be this person. I don’t tell you why you shouldn’t have kids, so please don’t tell me why I should.

Like many newsies and feminists alike, I have been following the story surrounding the Dentistry school at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Amidst a time of Canadian sex scandals and rape culture awareness these men chose to be sexist, misogynistic and downright rude regarding their female colleagues. From a personal standpoint, I find their choices to be awful and am glad to see that these men have been suspended. Their wild lack of professionalism should earn them nothing less.

That being said, this post is not about the punishments awarded to these men.

I plan to discuss the fact that this group of people chose to use social media as a place to share these thoughts.

When I was a teenager, I was told, quite emphatically, never to put into writing something you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read. I cannot remember who gave me this piece of advice, but I owe them a lot of thanks. As social media has expanded it is much easier for unwanted text comments to gain public scrutiny. As I have both of my grandmothers as Facebook friends, my mother following my Facebook, Twitter as well as all the other social media accounts I manage and many other family members able to access everything I say and do online, I tend to choose my words wisely. I try not to swear too much, substituting “effing” for more crass wording and generally keeping my profile clean of overwhelming smut.

These men ignored this protocol so spectacularly it makes my head spin. What these men did can be loosely classified as “hate speech” as defined by Random House Dictionary (speechthatattacks,threatens,orinsultsapersonorgrouponthebasisofnationalorigin,ethnicity,color,religion,gender,genderidentity,sexualorientation,ordisability). moreover, now they have left written proof. As we all know, Facebook owns everything we put on their site and almost nothing is ever truly deleted. These awful statements made about their once and future colleagues can and will come back to haunt them.

I have always loved the old tattoo adage, think before you ink. the same principle applies to writing. We have all made off-colour jokes in our time – most of us are smart enough not to put it in writing.

So my husband and I have two darling cats and every year they make the grand trip 2.5 hours to my parents house for Christmas. The old girl has done this two times before but the kitten is new to the trip. We are currently about 1/3 of the way there and have already learned some important life lessons.

– Bringing two cats does not make it easier. The cats will not keep each other company. They do not comfort one another. At all.
– Covering the cat carrier only makes the young one more agitated. Agitated cats yowl continually.
– If there is a place you do not want your cat, it will gravitate there like debris caught in the pull of a black hole.
– You can’t drown out the cats by turning up the music. They take this as a challenge.
– Eventually, if your cat will give up. Don’t expect this to be calming for you or the cat. The cat may go completely limp and you may have to take a moment to make sure your feline hasn’t shaken this mortal coil.
– A cat, when stressed, sheds a lot. If the older one isn’t bald by the time we reach our destination it will be a miracle.

I am sure there is still much to learn from the fur babies currently having a staring contest in the back seat. The elder isn’t in a carrier and seems to be mocking the younger in her tiny plastic prison.

I shall continue to watch how this little social hierarchy works out. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays.

Since Nov. 8, 2014, I have been providing social media services (mostly Twitter and blog content) for Hogg Mechanical, a company based in Kitchener, Ont. When I began this contract I wrote a post on this blog about my fear and how it kept me motivated. After two weeks of hard work and a lot of research I finally feel like I have a better idea of what I need to do to create effective content. I have received positive feedback from the company and am having a meeting to discuss a more aggressive approach to their social media campaign. I would say these are all very good signs that I am doing what is expected of me or more.

There is one hitch, though: I still know very little about HVAC as a trade.

This was the basis of my fear when I took over the social media contract; I was worried that my writing would show lack of knowledge. I was tweeting and blogging for a company with over 130 years of experience – I had to sound like I knew my stuff. Knowing this, I started researching. Over the past two weeks I have learned more about this trade than I ever expected in a lifetime. I read, I searched infographics, I went to the library, I Googled every little thing. I checked and double checked my information. It was stressful as sin but it worked. I was able to produce meaningful content with an air of familiarity that I didn’t quite yet feel.

The next thing I did was relied on my social media know-how. I know people react more to funny tweets than serious. I know a picture of a puppy in a parka will get more retweets than plain text. I know that people like bright infographics and links to interesting videos. Sifting through the junk can be a trial but it is so rewarding once you find that perfect piece of media.

I started interacting, asking questions on the twitter feed and on Facebook. I inquired what people wanted to know more about. Crowdsourcing gave me at least a month worth of blog topics.

Relying on your skills is wildly important. Research can’t be topped when it comes to the hard facts and as always, remember that social media is exactly that – social. Question your audience so you can give them what they want.

It has been a crazy couple weeks but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. I am writing with passion and confidence while learning about something I never would otherwise.

I would love to hear your stories about new contract jitters! Leave a comment or reach out to me on Twitter (@idlehands85) and share your experiences!